There are two stories that head a list of newsworthy items, both covered by President Joe Biden in a press conference today: The purpose was to provide an advanced notice of  upcoming peace talks between Israel and the Hamas about the Gaza Strip .  He went on the air as Sabbath began in Israel.  What is noteworthy about this announcement is that the president of the United States first mentioned this process.  This was bold and rare, indicating that he probably was given the go-ahead by Prime Minister Netanyahu, who will either confirm or not this process at sunset tomorrow.  Who knows what the Hamas will say.  One more point in Biden's speech is that hinted were about the prospects of a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which will certainly not occur this year, but something to work on for the four years after relection. As an opening, he remarked on the Trump guilty verdict, reaffirming  the American principle that no one is above the ...

  For the first time, I'm posting a second article on the same day because it is so momentous and sudden.  I don't know anyone who predicted this would happen so soon. DONALD TRUMP WAS JUST FOUND GUILTY OF FELONY ON ALL 34 COUNTS IN HIS HUSH MONEY TRIAL. This poll was just taken BEFORE the verdict was announced: Wow!!! So what next?  Will he go to jail?  Appeals?  So many unknowns.  In New York, judges have broad authority to determine the exact sentence.  He could well still pardon Trump.   But the way Trump has kept insulting Judge Juan Merchan and the whole process, can't imagine this happening.  While the 34 charges each come with 4 years of incarceration, or 136 years, Merchan can combine them all into one 4-year sentence.  So it's possible that the following graphic can become real in 2024. - 

A local  Star-Advertiser  article caught my attention:   Hawaii sees rise in COVID-19 positivity amid variant spread Health officials indicated that the FLiRT variants, including KP.1.1, KP.2 and KP.3, are beginning to dominate.  These variants are more immune-invasive, and another wave could be coming this summer. Hospitalization rate in Hawaii Two weeks ago, 27 hospitalized from Covid-19. May 22:  55 patients. Hawaii positivity rate: On May 1:  4.3% Last week:  8.5% This week:  10.5% Definitely going up.  But what is positivity?  Simply, divide the number who tested positive divided by the number who took the test, multiplied by 100.  How high is too high?  Four years ago a  report from Johns Hopkins indicated : The higher the percent positive is, the more concerning it is. As a rule of thumb, however, one threshold for the percent positive being “too high” is 5%. For example, the World Health Organization recommended in...

Well, closing arguments lasted to 8PM EDT last night for the Trump hush money trial, so today Judge Juan Merchan instructed the jury, which is now deliberating.  Melania?  Ivanka?  They both never showed up at even one session.  Hmmm... Who made the unintended funniest statement of  yesterday?  Todd Blanche, in reference to Michael Cohen.  Not  eatest , but  Greatest. One final note.  Read  Harry Litman's article summarizing the trial.   He is the senior legal affairs columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of the  Talking Feds  podcast.  He thinks Trump will be found guilty. Donald Trump is anti-science, but this is Wednesday, my sci-tech day, so I must march on anyway.  And, by the way,  Scientific American , which began publishing 175 years ago, in 2020 endorsed its first presidential candidate, Joe Biden.  Why?  Because Trump rejects evidence and science.   Instead of focusi...